al i want for x mass,,,, IS A REAL CORD OF WOOD......

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argus66

argus66

Feeling the Heat
Dec 9, 2007
465
central coastal nj
went to local wood guy yesterday to buy a full cord of firewood, he has a big sign on the side of the road saying FIREWOOD $120.00 A CORD. i bought 2 cords from this same guy last yr and was pretty close to a full cord but not this yr.. i walk in and say i want a full cord 4ft x4ftx8ft of stove sized wood. the guy strats yelling at me saying that is not a cord a cord is only 1 rack. ( 16inches x 8ft) for $100 so i said a half a cord for $100 and he kept getting madder and madder saying that 1 rack is a full cord. i tell him last yr it was 2 racks. he calls me a lair and says stove wood is split twice so its not as big and it cost him twice as much to split. but if u buy the 20 inch wood u get 2 full racks for $120, so twice as much for $20 more. why is it so hard to buy wood??? im so sick of this b.s. what is a real cord??? i think im going to call the better business bureau and see what they can do. is there any standard out there on how wood is sold is is the standard to just rip everyone off?
 
If you are going to buy wood already split, December is the wrong time to do it. Supply and demand - everyone wants to buy when it's cold. Buy your wood in the summer and you should get a better deal. Plus you know you can season it for a while as well.
 
There is only one legal unit of measure WRT a cord. Google for the words:
weights and measures cord wood

It's time to put an end to the deception and confusion. Report the offender.
 
My neighbor bought 4 cord last fall. It filled exactly 1/2 of his 8' x 8' x8' shed. The cell phone of the "wood thief" was soon disconnected.
 
Here in Michigan I have been hard pressed to find someone that sells a full cord of wood. Around here the term cord has come to mean a face cord - 4'x8'. I got pretty excited to buy a cord of wood for $60, but not as excited when I learned that it wasn't a real cord.
 
Last year i bought 2 cords for this years burning. When he dropped the pile in my yard it looked a little small. This is my first year with a stove but i've been burning a fireplace for 10 years. After i stacked it, it measured 13x3x4. 156 CU FT!!!! 100 CU FT Short!!! After i called him he came back to my house and we began to argue what a cord is. I told him 128 CU FT and he says"he doesn't do it that way????" He goes by pieces. 1000 pieces to a cord. As we all know the size of a split can vary greatly. He agreed to bring some more wood. He dropped off about 4 to 5 wheel barrows full and they were about 24 inches long. Way too long and not nearly enough. I let it go. But i shouldn't have. A cord is 128 CU FT!!!!! That's it!!!! End of story!!! It should not be debated. Like a gallon, or a quart. It's a unit of measure.

I would certainly call who you have to. Especially these days with more and more people burning wood. It's not fair.

After that i bought a saw and a splitter and never looked back. With some effort, well a lot of effort and a sore back you can get loads of wood for free. Where i live there is not much competition. I listen for chain saws or chippers. Pull up to tree guys and load up. There looking to get rid of it.

Good luck
 
The guy didn't do a dam thing wrong and you want to call the BBB on him Give me a break! He told you exactly what you get for $120 and you weren't willing to accept that. You wanted to dicker price, he didn't, move on. I could call a 4'x8'x16" stack of wood a "Kanooter" or a "Schwizle" or a "Fitzler". As long as the customer knows how much he is getting for a certain price all is well. Get over it and buy elsewhere.
 
LEES WOOD-CO said:
The guy didn't do a dam thing wrong and you want to call the BBB on him Give me a break! He told you exactly what you get for $120 and you weren't willing to accept that. You wanted to dicker price, he didn't, move on. I could call a 4'x8'x16" stack of wood a "Kanooter" or a "Schwizle" or a "Fitzler". As long as the customer knows how much he is getting for a certain price all is well. Get over it and buy elsewhere.
Click to expand...

I agree 110%. He told you what was for sale at what price. Buy or walk.
 
LEES WOOD-CO said:
The guy didn't do a dam thing wrong and you want to call the BBB on him Give me a break!
Click to expand...
Re-read the OP's first sentence.
argus66 said:
he has a big sign on the side of the road saying FIREWOOD $120.00 A CORD. i bought 2 cords from this same guy last yr and was pretty close to a full cord but not this yr..
Click to expand...
I will say again, there is only ONE legal unit called a "cord" so this is blatant false and misleading advertising. The fact that the seller later changed the definition has no bearing.
 
LEES WOOD-CO said:
The guy didn't do a dam thing wrong and you want to call the BBB on him Give me a break! He told you exactly what you get for $120 and you weren't willing to accept that. You wanted to dicker price, he didn't, move on. I could call a 4'x8'x16" stack of wood a "Kanooter" or a "Schwizle" or a "Fitzler". As long as the customer knows how much he is getting for a certain price all is well. Get over it and buy elsewhere.
Click to expand...

BUT.... the guy did have a sign out front saying the price was for a cord (not a "Kanooter" or anything else). Agree the OP should move on. But I also agree with Warmguy that reporting the dishonest seller wouldn't be wrong.
 
schortie said:
Here in Michigan I have been hard pressed to find someone that sells a full cord of wood. Around here the term cord has come to mean a face cord - 4'x8'. I got pretty excited to buy a cord of wood for $60, but not as excited when I learned that it wasn't a real cord.
Click to expand...

Amen! I laugh every time I see these people selling or buying what they say is a cord of wood. Ridiculous!

I also agreed one time to cut some birch for a fellow who apparently didn't have a lot of ready cash but was in great need. He wanted birch, so I cut birch. He said how much he wanted and I cut that amount. We also talked about this before hand; how much wood is in a cord.

When I got it cut, split and stacked I called him. He again asked the price so he'd know for sure how much he owed me. When I told him $70 he about flipped! Long story short, he didn't but it and I was stuck with a lot of birch. Well, I got rid of it anyway but he missed out on a great deal. $70 per cord I thought was a pretty good price! He didn't. I'm sure he was still thinking face cord.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
schortie said:
Here in Michigan I have been hard pressed to find someone that sells a full cord of wood. Around here the term cord has come to mean a face cord - 4'x8'. I got pretty excited to buy a cord of wood for $60, but not as excited when I learned that it wasn't a real cord.
Click to expand...

Amen! I laugh every time I see these people selling or buying what they say is a cord of wood. Ridiculous!

I also agreed one time to cut some birch for a fellow who apparently didn't have a lot of ready cash but was in great need. He wanted birch, so I cut birch. He said how much he wanted and I cut that amount. We also talked about this before hand; how much wood is in a cord.

When I got it cut, split and stacked I called him. He again asked the price so he'd know for sure how much he owed me. When I told him $70 he about flipped! Long story short, he didn't but it and I was stuck with a lot of birch. Well, I got rid of it anyway but he missed out on a great deal. $70 per cord I thought was a pretty good price! He didn't. I'm sure he was still thinking face cord.
Click to expand...


Where in Mi. are you? I'll gladly pay $70 for a real cord!!
 
I only buy real cords and over the years seen it go from $60 to $65, then the last two orders were $75 and now $95. Wonder what my next load will cost.
 
LLigetfa said:
LEES WOOD-CO said:
The guy didn't do a dam thing wrong and you want to call the BBB on him Give me a break!
Click to expand...
Re-read the OP's first sentence.
argus66 said:
he has a big sign on the side of the road saying FIREWOOD $120.00 A CORD. i bought 2 cords from this same guy last yr and was pretty close to a full cord but not this yr..
Click to expand...
I will say again, there is only ONE legal unit called a "cord" so this is blatant false and misleading advertising. The fact that the seller later changed the definition has no bearing.
Click to expand...


Full, face, rick , or bush cord ? Cord itself is pretty vague. It's all regional and up to the buyer to know the difference. No one got ripped in this case and the seller told the customer what he was getting for a set amount of $$$. No harm done , no crime comitted. Walk away and go to the next vendor. Why does everyone take it so personal these days when they don't get what they want at the $ they want to pay. I hope this guy calls the BBB or Dept. of Weights and Measures because they're going to laugh in his face.
 
I don't understand how it can be said that nobody is getting ripped off. When you buy a gallon of milk you get a gallon. Same for gas and so on. A cord is a cord. It can't be different in different areas, that makes no sense. If you were to measure a 4x4x8 stack and it was off a little, ok let it slide. But what happen to me and many others was a crime. A cord is a legal unit of measure it should not be debated. If your selling a product you should know the product.

It's not like this is a new technology where it is evolving year after year and someone has to brush up on there knowledge. It's a 4x4x8 stack of firewood. It can be looked up very easily.
 
argus66 said:
...i bought 2 cords from this same guy last yr and was pretty close to a full cord but not this yr...
Click to expand...
This too, is very misleading, the seller changing his description of what is a cord from one year to the next.

I was noticing that my stick of anti-perspirant wasn't lasting as long as it used to. I was always buying the same brand and it didn't look any different than before. One day I compared my newest pit stick with one I've kept in my travel bag for while and noticed in very tiny print, that they reduced the quantity without reducing the package size. I was infuriated! That is a very deceptive practice to sneak in a price increase by reducing the quantitiy. Technically, the quantity was printed on the package but they put more air in the package so it would not be so noticable.
 
I always wondered why they don't sell firewood by weight. Everybody wins, the customer gets what he pays for, and the supplier gets a premium for denser woods. The price per ton would be hashed out in the marketplace. I realize this would encourage suppliers to sell freshly cut wood to maximize profits, but are they really selling seasoned wood now? This would knock out smaller guys, though.
 
Rick said:
I always wondered why they don't sell firewood by weight...
Click to expand...
I work in the forest products industry and we buy wood strictly by weight. If you want your truck weighed, you can do it for free with no paperwork on our truck scale or for a small fee if you need it in writing. I even take pictures with four video cameras! We don't charge for the service if you are selling us your wood but we will rat you out if you are overweight.
 
argus66 said:
went to local wood guy yesterday to buy a full cord of firewood, he has a big sign on the side of the road saying FIREWOOD $120.00 A CORD. i bought 2 cords from this same guy last yr and was pretty close to a full cord but not this yr.. i walk in and say i want a full cord 4ft x4ftx8ft of stove sized wood. the guy strats yelling at me saying that is not a cord a cord is only 1 rack. ( 16inches x 8ft) for $100 so i said a half a cord for $100 and he kept getting madder and madder saying that 1 rack is a full cord. i tell him last yr it was 2 racks. he calls me a lair and says stove wood is split twice so its not as big and it cost him twice as much to split. but if u buy the 20 inch wood u get 2 full racks for $120, so twice as much for $20 more. why is it so hard to buy wood??? im so sick of this b.s. what is a real cord??? i think im going to call the better business bureau and see what they can do. is there any standard out there on how wood is sold is is the standard to just rip everyone off?
Click to expand...

I can deliver you a cord+ of the finest PNW Doug Fir for $2600:


12 tanks of fuel @ $80 per tank = $960 (let's round to $1000)

1+ cord of 16" split and dry butt-cutt Douglas Fir = $200

$100 per diem for 14 diems (one week each way) = $1400


Eh?
 
Chief Ryan said:
Last year i bought 2 cords for this years burning. When he dropped the pile in my yard it looked a little small. This is my first year with a stove but i've been burning a fireplace for 10 years. After i stacked it, it measured 13x3x4. 156 CU FT!!!! 100 CU FT Short!!! After i called him he came back to my house and we began to argue what a cord is. I told him 128 CU FT and he says"he doesn't do it that way????" He goes by pieces. 1000 pieces to a cord. As we all know the size of a split can vary greatly. He agreed to bring some more wood. He dropped off about 4 to 5 wheel barrows full and they were about 24 inches long. Way too long and not nearly enough. I let it go. But i shouldn't have. A cord is 128 CU FT!!!!! That's it!!!! End of story!!! It should not be debated. Like a gallon, or a quart. It's a unit of measure.

I would certainly call who you have to. Especially these days with more and more people burning wood. It's not fair.

After that i bought a saw and a splitter and never looked back. With some effort, well a lot of effort and a sore back you can get loads of wood for free. Where i live there is not much competition. I listen for chain saws or chippers. Pull up to tree guys and load up. There looking to get rid of it.

Good luck
Click to expand...

So you freaked out on a guy who advertised a cord but delivered 28 cu ft more than a cord?

I'm no math wiz but isn't 156 cu ft MORE than 128 cu ft?

eh?
 
LLigetfa said:
argus66 said:
...i bought 2 cords from this same guy last yr and was pretty close to a full cord but not this yr...
Click to expand...
This too, is very misleading, the seller changing his description of what is a cord from one year to the next.

I was noticing that my stick of anti-perspirant wasn't lasting as long as it used to. I was always buying the same brand and it didn't look any different than before. One day I compared my newest pit stick with one I've kept in my travel bag for while and noticed in very tiny print, that they reduced the quantity without reducing the package size. I was infuriated! That is a very deceptive practice to sneak in a price increase by reducing the quantitiy. Technically, the quantity was printed on the package but they put more air in the package so it would not be so noticable.
Click to expand...

Bought a 1/2 gallon of ice cream lately?
 
There is a N.J. State standard for firewood that is described in the link below:

http://www.state.nj.us/oag/ca/weights/tips.htm

It seems that the dealer you are describing is not only unscrupulous, he is conducting business illegally according to the New Jersey Department of Weights and Measures. Do those folks who might potentially fall prey to this kind of unsavory/illegal business practice a favor - report him to the Department. It's unlikely they will find this kind of activity humorous.

Bigg Redd, for a 100 cord delivery that'd be a pretty good deal ;-)!
 
Bigg_Redd said:
Chief Ryan said:
Last year i bought 2 cords...
After i stacked it, it measured 13x3x4. 156 CU FT!!!! 100 CU FT Short!!!
A cord is 128 CU FT!!!!! That's it!!!! End of story!!! It should not be debated. Like a gallon, or a quart. It's a unit of measure.
Click to expand...
I'm no math wiz...
Click to expand...
You're right about not being a math wiz.

2 x 128 = 256

He bought 2 cord but only got 156, 100 short like he said.
 
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